LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Presented  by 


BX    9225    .H34^S4    1895 

Services  in  memory  of  the 
Rev.  Eben  Halley,  D.D.  by 


^roNi .    TVesbvj  t er >^ . 


Services 


Itn  /IDemocs  of 


ICbe  IRev.  Bben  Iballe^,  H).2). 


bfi 


Ebe  presb^tcr^  of  ZTroi? 

and 

ZTbe  Seconb  Street  Presbyterian  Cburcb 


Ubursbag  jEvening,  December  5,  1895 


1Rev.  lebcn  Iballe^,  2).D, 

BORN  AT   SALEM 

5anuars  7tb,  1845 

DIED   AT   TROY 

5une  8tb,  1895 


H^^re66e0. 


ADDRESS  OF   REV.  T.  P.  SAWIN. 

I  come  this  evening  to  offer  my  tribute  to  a  brother 
whose  loss  to  us  can  only  be  measured  by  the  immeasur- 
able gain  which  has  become  his  in  the  change  from  an 
earthly  to  a  heavenly  environment.  In  that  hour  when 
this  change  took  place,  and  his  soul  was  released  from  its 
tabernacle  of  clay  and  hastened  into  the  eternal  temple 
not  made  with  hands,  leaving  behind  only  the  outworn 
shell  of  life,  our  hearts  were  too  much  overcome  with 
grief  and  too  stunned  with  the  sense  of  desolation  to  seek 
for  consolation  either  in  memory  or  in  hope.  We  could 
not  look  back,  and  we  could  not  look  forward.  Our 
blinded  eyes,  dry  with  a  tearless  sorrow,  had  no  vision. 
All  that  we  then  realized  was  that  there  was  absence 
where  there  had  been  presence,  emptiness  where  there 
had  been  fulness,  solitude  where  there  had  been  com- 
panionship, and  death  where  there  had  been  life.  The 
great  current  of  deed  and  thought  which  had  been  sweep- 
ing on  through  the  valleys  and  meadows  of  our  lives  had 
suddenly  ceased  to  flow,  and  we  could  only  look  in  blank 
amazement  at  the  waterless  channel.  The  light  which 
had  illuminated  our  pathway,  casting  its  friendly  beams 
into  the  midst  of  our  perplexities,  was  extinguished,  and 
impenetrable  darkness  shrouded  all  the  way  beneath  our 


feet.  The  sound  which  had  once  touched  our  souls  with 
penitent  shame,  with  upHfting  reconciHations,  with  vigor- 
ous courage,  with  tender  sympathy,  with  dynamic  faith, 
and  with  impassioned  love,  no  more  stirred  the  air  with 
its  varied  vibrations.  The  voice  had  ceased  with  its  last 
good-bye,  and  an  immutable  silence  barred  the  gate  of 
utterance.  With  these  facts  laying  their  weight  upon  us 
and  crushing  us  with  grief,  public  expression  of  our  esteem 
was  then  impossible.  We  could  only  clasp  each  other's 
hands,  whisper  our  thoughts  as  we  met  face  to  face  for 
the  moment,  and  pray  for  strength  to  endure.  But  a 
kindly  Providence  did  not  forget  us.  Measuring  with  a 
divine  insight  our  needs,  he  has  been  supplying  them 
with  consolation  according  to  the  infinite  riches  of  his 
grace.  Day  by  day  he  has  been  bringing  to  our  remem- 
brance the  things  we  can  never  forget,  and  he  has  been 
adding  to  our  faith  the  sight  of  things  which  hath  been 
prepared  for  them  that  love  him,  so  that  now,  though  we 
are  still  looking  through  a  glass  darkly,  we  can  see  in  clear 
outline  the  features  that  reveal  to  us  what  our  friend  was 
and  is  and  shall  be  for  evermore.  The  months  that  have 
passed  since  he  was  taken  from  us  have  served  the  benefi- 
cent purpose  of  alleviating  the  pain  of  separation,  and  of 
assuring  us  that  his  death  was  but  an  incident  in  a  con- 
tinuous life  whose  spiritual  influence  can  neither  be 
diverted  nor  lost  through  any  change  in  location.  Glori- 
fied and  crowned  in  the  supernal  realm  invisible  to  us,  he 
is  yet  our  neighbor,  companion,  and  friend,  and  we  would 
therefore  speak  of  him  as  one  who  hears,  though  he  may 
not  answer,  taking  good  heed  that  we  offend  not  the  sense 
of  his  great  modesty,  while  we  fall  not  short  in  our  esti- 


mation  of  those  qualities  the  appreciation  of  which  is 
grateful  to  every  heart  that  possesses  them. 

The  outward  facts  of  his  life  are  few  and  may  be  written 
in  a  few  lines.  He  was  born  in  Salem,  N.  Y.,  on  the  7th 
of  January,  1845.  His  boyhood  days  were  spent  in  Troy. 
His  preparatory  education,  aside  from  that  which  he  re- 
ceived in  his  home,  was  obtained  in  the  Albany  Academy. 
He  was  graduated  at  Williams  College  in  1864.  For  a 
year  previous  to  his  graduation  he  carried  the  musket  of 
a  private  soldier  in  the  Army  of  the  Republic,  having 
enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Seventy-seventh  New 
York  Volunteers.  His  theological  education  was  obtained 
at  Princeton.  He  began  preaching  in  a  home  missionary 
church  in  Richmond,  Vt.  In  1869  he  was  ordained  and 
installed  as  pastor  of  a  Congregational  Church  in  Cincin- 
nati. In  1878  he  was  called  to  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  and  here  he  soon  afterward  brought 
his  bride,  the  beloved  wife  and  most  helpful  companion 
and  inspiration  of  his  ministerial  labors.  In  November, 
1886,  he  began  his  ministry  in  this  Second  Street  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Troy.  Last  June  he  was  transferred  to 
the  right  hand  of  God  in  the  Glory  Everlasting. 

This  is  a  short  story  on  which  to  build  the  record  of  a 
great  life,  but  there  is  a  divine  meaning  in  all  these  facts 
which  neither  you  nor  I  can  fully  measure.  Not  many 
men  have  lived  to  complete  the  circle  of  their  life  by  re- 
turning to  their  boyhood  home,  and  in  so  doing  disprove 
the  old  proverb  that  "  a  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save 
in  his  own  country  and  in  his  own  house."  A  man  may 
grow  up  in  a  community  and,  never  leaving  it,  may 
achieve  much  honor  for  himself,  because  he  grows  along 


with  it,  and  rises  without  any  break  in  the  vision  of 
others,  but  when  an  interval  of  absence  intervenes,  and 
he  comes  back  to  old  scenes  to  occupy  an  exalted  posi- 
tion, the  contrast  is  sharp  and  criticism  is  apt  to  be  keen, 
and  only  a  strong  man  can  endure  it.  Yet  it  was  here 
and  under  these  circumstances  that  Eben  Halley  chal- 
lenged the  observation  of  the  past  by  the  reflection  of  the 
present,  and  maintained  in  his  mature  life  the  promise  of 
his  early  days.  It  was  here,  where  he  played  and  studied 
and  wrought  as  a  boy  and  young  man,  that  he  achieved 
his  most  memorable  victories,  and  compelled  the  respect 
even  of  those  who  had  small  sympathy  with  his  purposes 
and  aims.  It  was  here  that  he  rose  in  splendor  before  the 
eyes  of  the  people  and  stirred  the  thought  and  quickened 
the  conscience  of  the  timid  and  the  vacillating,  and  en- 
couraged the  weak  to  put  forth  a  strength  they  knew  not 
of.  It  was  here,  in  the  presence  of  men  who  had  known 
him  as  a  child,  that  he  stood  up  as  a  man,  clad  in  full 
armor,  a  soldier  militant,  to  strike  for  and  defend  the 
cause  of  civil  liberty  in  the  municipality,  and  of  religious 
liberty  in  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  minister.  It  took 
courage  and  faith  and  much  humility  to  enter  upon  the 
task  set  before  him  here,  but  under  God  he  was  equal  to 
the  occasion,  and  proved  himself  in  the  eyes  of  his  own 
generation  a  workman  that  needed  not  to  be  ashamed. 

Turning  now  from  these  general  considerations,  I  will 
speak  of  some  of  the  characteristics  which  particularly 
impressed  me  in  the  eight  years  of  happy  fraternal  inter- 
course that  I  was  privileged  to  have  with  him.  First  of 
all  was  the  fulness  of  his  life.  No  matter  where  or  when 
you   touched  him,  in    his   social,  intellectual,  or  spiritual 


5 

nature,  the  response  was  immediate  and  complete.  He 
never  grew  rich  by  withholding,  nor  was  he  impoverished 
by  giving.  He  had  taken  advantage  of  the  purpose  for 
which  Jesus  came  into  the  world,  that  men  might  have 
life  and  have  it  more  abundantly.  All  things  that  came 
to  him  through  books,  through  travel,  through  intercourse 
with  friends,  through  the  casual  companionship  of  a  pass- 
ing acquaintance,  through  the  daily  round  of  labor  and 
through  the  freedom  of  recreation,  were  transmuted  in 
the  alembic  of  his  thought  into  life,  and  of  this  fulness 
we  all  received.  His  accumulations  were  constant  and 
fresh,  like  the  lake  which  is  filled  from  the  clouds  above 
and  from  springs  beneath  and  from  streams  around.  Yet 
this  was  not  a  mere  memory  of  words  and  events,  or  a 
collocation  of  historical  impressions,  but  was  the  result  of 
an  assimilation  which  made  it  a  real  experience,  though 
it  was  often  enriched  by  a  fancy  which,  as  Browning  says, 
"  makes  one  fact  the  more."  He  had  no  pawn-shop  goods 
on  hand,  and  he  despised  the  trick  of  the  borrower  who 
thinks  to  conceal  the  true  possession  by  altering  the  trim- 
ming. His  receptivity  was  marked  by  a  fine  sense  of 
afifinity,  so  that  all  he  had  came  by  personal  attainment 
and  bore  his  personal  signature.  The  seal  of  his  own  life 
was  upon  his  every  possession,  and  we  know  that  when 
he  issued  a  note,  whether  it  were  of  promise  or  of  warn- 
ing, its  value  would  not  shrink.  This  exuberance  of  life 
made  him  forgetful  of  self  and  generous  in  giving.  He 
did  not  save  his  speech  for  special  occasions,  nor  did  he 
lay  away  his  choice  thoughts  in  velvet  and  satin  cases  to 
be  brought  out  only  in  public.  Great  occasions  inspired 
him,  but  little  occasions  did  not  fail  to  move  him.     Those 


who  came  near  to  him  in  the  quiet  confidence  of  an  even- 
ing hour  felt  the  thrill  of  his  pulse-beats,  as  well  as  those 
who  listened  to  him  from  the  rostrum  or  the  sacred  desk. 
He  could  rise  to  the  height  and  go  down  to  the  depth  of 
one  man's  necessity  as  well  as  that  of  the  multitude.  We 
feared  no  exhaustion,  and  we  dreaded  no  failure,  because 
of  this  boundless  supply  of  inward  force,  this  measure- 
less quantity  of  spiritual  energy  which  never  lacked  in 
quantity,  however  large  might  be  its  expenditure.  Often- 
times this  was  checked  in  utterance.  A  limpid  and 
smooth  flow  of  words  he  never  had,  for  his  speech  was 
like  those  mountain  streams  in  Colorado  which,  fed  from 
eternal  sources,  come  rushing  down  with  impetuous 
might,  stopped,  hindered,  thwarted,  here  and  there,  by 
boulders  in  the  midst  before  and  by  the  excess  of  pres- 
sure from  behind,  and  yet  moving  on  like  fate  to 
their  goal,  and  bearing  with  them  in  the  turbid  flood  the 
rich,  yellow  gold  which  the  placer  miners  will  by  and  by 
gather  up.  So  his  speech  was  majestic  and  mighty  and 
filled  with  wealth  of  thought,  brilliant  epigram,  pure 
inspiration,  ringing  battle  cries  and  notes  of  salvation. 
We  have  seen  him  on  the  floor  of  Presbytery,  when 
physical  weakness  bade  him  be  silent  and  the  tender 
voice  of  love  cautioned  restraint,  rise  from  his  place  at 
the  command  of  his  conscience  for  truth  and  though 
beginning  with  broken  and  hesitating  utterance,  pass  on 
into  impassioned  speech,  filled  with  a  noble  indignation, 
burning  with  an  electric  eloquence,  and  so  resonant  with 
vigor  that  the  weakness  of  the  flesh  was  wholly  lost  sight 
of  in  the  abounding  fulness  of  the  spirit's  power.  And 
we  have  seen  him  again,  when  the  burden  of  a  great  grief 


was  upon  us,  and  the  shadows  were  so  dense  that  no  light 
could  pierce  them,  and  hope  so  feeble  that  it  could  not 
touch  us,  and  we  have  heard  that  same  voice  in  gentler 
tones,  but  with  no  less  eagerness  for  help,  breaking  in  on 
the  solitude  and  the  darkness,  answering  the  inquiry : 
"Is  it  well  with  the  child?"  with  such  affirmative  em- 
phasis that  it  seemed  like  a  voice  out  of  the  centuries 
from  the  home  in  Bethany,  saying :  "  I  am  the  resurrec- 
tion and  the  life."  It  was  always  so.  His  was  a  heart 
that  spoke  ever  out  of  abundance  in  the  consciousness  of 
an  exhaustless  plenitude. 

Another  characteristic  of  this  man  was  his  moral  in- 
tensity joined  with  a  clear  discrimination  and  fine  sensi- 
tiveness. While  he  was  musing  the  fire  burned.  Thus 
his  speech  was  kindled  and  supplied  with  thought. 
Underneath  every  denunciation  and  every  exhortation 
there  was  a  clear-cut  proposition.  If  sometimes  he 
seemed  to  be  pushing  on  regardless  of  consequences,  it 
was  only  the  determination  to  reach  a  given  end  in  time, 
by  one  who  held  a  steady  rein  and  knew  the  road  on 
which  he  was  travelling.  He  had  the  mastery  over  him- 
self as  well  as  his  theme,  and  hence  there  was  no  wasting 
of  force  in  side  issues  and  irrelevant  matter.  His  con- 
victions made  close  connections  with  his  utterance,  and 
his  utterance  gave  bonds  for  its  performance.  In  his 
clear  discernment  he  could  make  things  clear  to  any  who 
were  seeking  the  truth  with  open  eyes  and  ears,  simply 
because  he  knew  how  to  detach  the  important  from  the 
unimportant,  the  essential  from  the  unessential.  On  one 
occasion,  in  discussing  the  place  of  creeds  in  the  Christian 
system,  he  said  :     "  Theology  is  the  fallible  interpretation 


8 

of  infallible  truth."  If  that  sentence  were  written  over 
the  door  of  every  theological  seminary  the  odium  theo- 
logicunt  would  soon  disappear,  and  in  its  place  we  should 
have  that  sweet  reasonableness  which  would  make  prose- 
cutions for  heresy  impossible,  not  for  lack  of  a  definite 
conviction  of  truth,  but  because  in  the  depth  and  cer- 
tainty of  its  indefectible  character  we  should  care  little 
for  the  incidental  and  material  form  in  which  one  man  or 
another  might  personally  choose  to  express  it.  Our  friend 
was  not  averse  to  creeds  or  to  confessions  of  faith,  but  he 
thought  that  the  spirit  of  one  age  could  not  be  embodied 
in  the  forms  of  another.  In  the  evolution  of  life  he  saw 
the  necessity  of  death,  but  in  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
he  saw  no  loss  of  anything  that  was  essential  to  continued 
life.  He  believed  in  natural  decay  and  spiritual  growth. 
He  rejoiced  that  old  things  were  passing  away  and  that 
all  things  were  becoming  new.  To  him  life  was  a  con- 
tinuous resurrection,  a  process  of  transformation,  an 
energy  forever  transfiguring  the  body  of  our  humiliation 
into  the  glory  of  the  eternal ;  hence  while  he  saw  in  his- 
tory the  spirit  of  the  present,  and  while  he  regarded 
memory  as  the  identifying  attribute  of  the  future,  he 
cherished  no  fondness  for  the  mouldy  contents  of  ancient 
sepulchres,  and  gladly  forgot  the  things  that  were  behind 
as  he  pressed  on  to  the  goal  of  his  chosen  destiny.  He 
accepted  with  fervent  thankfulness  the  incorruptible  in- 
heritance of  the  past,  but  the  bric-a-brac  of  relics  had  no 
place  in  the  cabinet  of  his  faith.  He  was  intense  in  his 
pursuit  of  truth,  but  it  was  no  uncertain,  vague,  and 
phantom-like  form  he  sought,  but  a  living  ideal  which  he 
might  possess  here  and  now,  though  he  could  not  expect 


to  realize  the  completeness  of  possession.  He  knew  in 
whom  and  what  he  believed,  but  he  did  not  believe  that 
he  knew  all  that  he  believed.  The  foundations  of  his 
faith  were  laid  on  immutable  rock,  and  he  acknowl- 
edged the  infinite  wisdom  of  the  plan,  but  the  structure 
he  is  building  yet.  The  sense  of  security  in  this  founda- 
tion gave  him  boldness  in  proclaiming  its  sufificiency  ; 
the  insufificiency  of  his  own  knowledge  made  him  gen- 
erous and  tolerant  of  the  work  of  others,  while  the  con- 
sciousness of  his  own  needs  presented  itself  as  a  motive 
for  vigorous  activity,  in  promoting  a  unity  of  faith  and 
life,  on  the  basis  of  a  common  experience.  It  was  after 
this  manner  that  he  stood  before  us,  a  man  of  intense 
moral  earnestness,  yet  so  completely  under  the  guidance 
of  reason  and  sympathy  that  he  was  able  to  lift  men  out 
of  their  prejudices  without  wounding  their  self-love,  and 
to  give  to  those  who  had  the  power  of  comprehension 
and  the  capacity  of  reason  a  rational  philosophy  of  their 
spiritual  experience,  so  that  their  advent  into  the  new  life 
appeared  to  them  not  as  the  result  of  a  magical  concep- 
tion, but  as  an  evolution  in  accordance  with  the  law  of 
life  after  the  mind  of  Christ. 

I  have  now  outlined  with  such  discernment  as  I  possess 
the  two  leading  characteristics  of  this  friend  of  mine  and 
yours,  as  he  revealed  himself  to  me  in  the  comradeship 
of  ministerial  and  personal  friendship.  There  are  many 
other  things  of  which  I  might  speak,  were  the  time  at 
hand,  and  there  are  still  others  that  must  be  left  un- 
spoken, since  they  are  too  weighty  for  the  emotion  that 
must  bear  them. 

I  cannot  close,  however,  without  adding  a  joyful  note 


10 

to  the  music  of  mourning.  This  fulness  of  life  and  this 
discriminating  and  sympathizing  intensity  of  moral  ear- 
nestness to  which  I  have  borne  witness  is  no  longer  incar- 
nate among  us.  The  special  form  of  it  is  formless,  for 
the  outward  man  has  perished.  We  say  that  he  suc- 
cumbed to  death,  and  for  us  this  blow  was  the  dissipa- 
tion of  our  hopes  and  the  wiping  out  of  our  plans.  For 
this  there  is  no  compensation  to  us.  No  man  can  take 
his  place,  for  no  man  can  do  or  be  what  he  was  able  to 
do  and  be.  Just  so  much  force  manifested  in  thought, 
in  love,  and  in  life  is  taken  out  of  the  world.  This  is  our 
side  of  it.  But  for  him  that  blow  was  as  the  stroke  of 
the  liberating  sword,  which  touches  the  kneeling  novice 
and  bids  him  rise,  purified  and  clad  in  white,  into  the  full 
privileges  of  a  royal  knight,  to  stand  forevermore  with 
kings  and  priests  in  the  imperial  court  of  the  Sovereign 
of  Heaven. 

He  has  finished  his  course,  he  has  fought  the  fight,  he 
has  won  the  crown  ;  let  us  then  celebrate  his  triumph, 
and  send  forth  from  this  hither  shore  the  all  hail  of 
rejoicing  spirits. 

He  has  completed  his  earthly  destiny,  he  has  passed 
the  great  tribulations  of  mortal  experience,  he  has  gone 
through  and  beyond  the  valley  of  the  shadow ;  let  us 
sing  praises  for  his  faithfulness  and  shout  forth  our  trib- 
ute, that  he  may  hear  it  as  he  stands  with  the  saints 
redeemed  and  glorified  in  the  innumerable  assembly 
about  the  eternal  throne. 

O  brothers  of  the  Presbytery  of  Troy,  O  beloved  neigh- 
bors in  this  church  of  whom  he  was  shepherd  and  teacher, 
O  friends  and  companions  in  the  fellowship  of  a  kindred 


II 

spirit,  O  wife,  loved  with  a  love  that  passeth  knowledge, 
O  children,  sanctified  and  consecrated  by  a  father's  affec- 
tion and  blessing,  O  inhabitants  of  this  city,  in  whose 
presence  he  stood  a  terror  to  those  loving  evil  and  an  in- 
spiration to  those  loving  right,  suffer  me  in  this  solemn 
hour  to  direct  your  thoughts  away  from  this  body  of 
death,  away  from  the  misery  and  pain  of  departure,  to 
the  glory  of  Immanuel's  land,  where  he  dwelleth  now, 
and  to  remind  you  that  the  life  he  lived  here  was  an  im- 
mortal life,  having  an  immortal  influence  and  a  ceaseless 
energy.  Never  will  what  he  has  accomplished  here  in 
the  name  of  his  Master  suffer  loss ;  for 

"  What  is  excellent, 

As  God  lives,  is  permanent ; 

Hearts  are  dust,  hearts'  loves  remain  ; 

Heart's  love  will  meet  thee  again." 

The  workman  has  gone,  but  the  work  abides.  Charac- 
ter is  imperishable.  Its  sufificiency  is  of  God,  and  hence 
it  can  never  fail.  It  is  organized  victory.  It  is  the  dem- 
onstration of  the  divine  in  man.  It  is  the  guarantee 
which  heaven  accepts  in  blank.  To  leave  such  a  fact  as 
this  in  the  world  is  the  grandest  achievement  of  life.  It 
puts  into  our  hands  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  unde- 
filed,  and  that  fadeth  not  away.  It  makes  us  rich  with  a 
treasure  whose  income  is  greater  than  any  capital  derived 
from  any  other  source.  Thus  in  contemplating  the  trans- 
figured life  of  our  beloved  friend,  and  in  gathering  up  the 
memories  of  its  earthly  manifestation,  are  we  brought 
out  of  our  distresses  even  while  the  troubles  of  our  heart 
are  enlarged.     A  deep  peace  settles  upon  our  spirit,  for 


12 

we  hear  the  voice  of  the  Master  of  life,  and  his  words 
fill  our  souls  with  the  golden  dream  of  a  perennial  glad- 
ness, and  in  their  commanding  prophecy  we  look  to  the 
time  when  our  mortal  shall  be  swallowed  up  of  mortality, 
and  we  who  are  here  and  they  who  are  there  shall  be 
united  in  the  realization  of  our  and  their  highest  anticipa- 
tions :  '*  Let  not  your  hearts  be  troubled  ;  believe  in  God  ; 
believe  also  in  Me.  He  that  liveth  in  Me  shall  not  die." 
In  the  full  faith  of  this  personal  assurance  we  offer  our 
doxology  :  "  Now  unto  the  King  Eternal,  immortal,  in- 
visible, the  only  God,  be  glory  and  honor,  world  without 
end.     Amen." 


IRemembrances. 

REV.  E.  H.  GRIFFIN,  D.D. 

Thirty-five  years  ago,  in  September  of  the  present 
year,  Eben  Halley  entered  Wihiams  College.  From  that 
time  until  the  summer  morning  when  God  called  him,  an 
uninterrupted  friendship  subsisted  between  him  and  me. 
I  never  had  a  more  unselfish  and  loyal  friend.  I  well 
know  that  in  his  death  I  have  suffered  a  loss  which  can 
never  be  made  good. 

As  I  recall  my  first  acquaintance  with  him,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  realize  that  I  am  looking  back  over  an  interval  of 
more  than  a  generation ;  the  circumstances  and  incidents 
are  as  vivid  in  my  recollection  as  if  it  were  yesterday. 

At  the  time  of  his  entering  college,  Halley  was  less 
than  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  this  although  he  was 
enrolled  in  the  sophomore  class.  He  was  large  in  every 
physical  proportion,  in  the  fulness  of  health,  overflowing 
with  energy,  good  fellowship,  and  high  spirits,  full  of 
wit,  humor  and  enthusiasm.  He  made  friends  easily, 
and  quickly  identified  himself  with  what  was  going  on 
around  him.  I  remember  that  his  resources  in  conversa- 
tion were  a  surprise  to  some  of  the  older  students :  he 
had  an  acquaintance  with  books  and  with  affairs,  and  a 
readiness  and  self-command  unusual  in  one  so  young. 

In    the   appointed    tasks   of    the    college    he   always 

13 


14 

maintained  a  creditable  standing,  but  he  was  one  of 
those  whose  work  is  not  measured  by  class-room  tests : 
he  taught  himself  more,  perhaps,  than  he  learned  from 
his  instructors.  Throughout  his  college  course  he  read 
industriously,  widely,  and  with  excellent  discrimination. 
He  was  particularly  interested  in  history.  All  who  have 
been  familiar  with  him  know  how  strongly  his  tastes 
inclined  in  this  direction.  To  the  end  of  his  life,  he  was 
accustomed  to  read  and  re-read  Gibbon,  whose  stately 
diction  and  animated,  varied  narrative  had  a  special 
charm  for  him.  Gibbon  was  one  of  the  favorite  authors 
of  his  student  days ;  he  read  also  Greek  history  and 
Roman  history,  the  Prescott  and  Motley  histories,  and 
much  besides.  He  was  attracted  also  by  biography, 
especially  literary  biography.  Boswell's  Johnson,  Lock- 
hart's  Scott,  the  essayists  and  wits  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  group  of  men  of  genius  who  appeared  in 
English  literature  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury— Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  and  the  rest,  the  later 
series  of  men  of  letters  represented  by  Macaulay  and 
Carlyle — with  all  these  he  was  very  familiar,  from  the 
biographical  as  well  as  from  the  literary  point  of  view. 
The  college  students  of  that  time  received  less  instruc- 
tion in  the  history  and  criticism  of  literature  than  is  given 
now,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  there  was  more  read- 
ing of  great  authors,  and  more  discussion  of  literary 
questions  than  is  prevalent  in  our  colleges  now,  when 
there  are  so  many  things,  unknown  then,  to  engross 
attention.  Halley's  retentive  memory  enabled  him  to 
use  his  acquisitions  freely  in  social  intercourse,  and  this 
was  done  so  aptly,  and  with  such  an  entire  absence  of 


15 

self-display  or  pedantry,  that  it  was  one  of  the  chief 
elements  of  attraction  in  his  companionship.  He  was, 
like  most  young  men,  extremely  fond  of  Dickens,  and 
his  knowledge  of  the  leading  works  of  that  author 
was  so  exact  and  minute  that  he  could  probably 
have  passed  with  success  an  examination  paper,  such 
as  has  sometimes  been  constructed,  by  way  of  parody, 
on  the  text  of  Dickens.  He  used  sometimes  to  illus- 
trate an  existing  situation  by  reference  to  his  favorite 
novelist ;  with  delightful  wit  he  would  identify  him- 
self with  some  character,  or  quote  some  humorous 
phrase,  and  his  hearty,  irresistible  laughter  would  compel 
every  one  to  appreciate  the  fitness  of  the  application. 
The  range  of  his  reading  in  fiction  was  wide  and  sym- 
pathetic, but,  while  he  appreciated  the  analytic  and  psy- 
chological type  of  novel,  he  derived  a  greater  pleasure 
from  representations  of  objective  life.  I  can  never  forget 
how  eloquently,  on  one  of  the  last  occasions  of  my  seeing 
him,  on  the  steps  of  the  Adirondack  Hotel,  he  extolled 
the  D'Artagnan  and  Valois  romances  of  Dumas,  declar- 
iug  that  after  a  hard  day,  when  things  had  gone  wrongly, 
nothing  gave  him  greater  relief  and  refreshment  than 
to  escape  into  the  free  world  of  this  great  writer's 
imagination. 

In  the  spring  vacation  of  his  junior  year,  he  entered  the 
army  under  a  nine  months'  enlistment.  This  was  much 
regretted  by  his  college  friends,  and  was  felt  to  be  a  grave 
mistake.  The  event  proved,  however,  that  the  step  was  a 
wise  one.  He  saw  much  hardship  and  no  little  danger  : 
the  experience  contributed  much  to  the  maturing  of  his 
character  :  it  changed  him  from  a  boy  to  a  man.    It  is  not 


i6 

unlikely  that  the  experiences  of  that  year  had  something 
to  do  with  the  earnest  patriotism,  the  intense  civic  feeling 
which  characterized  his  after  life. 

I  was  not  associated  with  him  during  his  theological 
studies,  but  after  his  graduation  he  spent  a  year  at  Rich- 
mond, Vermont,  and,  as  I  was  living  at  the  time  at  Bur- 
lington, only  a  few  miles  distant,  we  frequently  met.  He 
had  passed  a  summer,  while  a  theological  student,  at 
Richmond,  in  the  employment  of  the  Home  Mission- 
ary Society,  and  the  people  had  become  so  much  inter- 
ested in  him,  and  he  in  them,  that,  at  their  urgent 
solicitation,  he  returned,  after  completing  his  studies,  for 
a  longer  residence.  His  acceptance  of  this  restricted  field 
of  labor  did  not  seem,  at  the  time,  to  be  for  his  advan- 
tage in  a  personal  point  of  view,  but,  for  himself  as  well 
as  for  the  people,  it  was  a  good  beginning  of  his  ministry. 

During  his  pastorate  at  Cincinnati,  and  his  subsequent 
settlement  at  Binghamton,  I  saw  him  but  seldom.  After 
he  came  to  Troy,  our  early  intimacy  was  resumed.  We 
passed  several  summer  vacations  together,  and  were  able 
to  interchange  visits  not  infrequently.  This  renewal  of 
intercourse,  after  so  many  years,  enabled  me  to  measure, 
more  accurately  than  if  our  association  had  been  continu- 
ous, the  development  of  character  and  mind  which  had 
gone  forward  in  him.  One  who  had  known  him  as  a  boy 
could  not  but  feel  that  his  growth  had  been  singularly 
harmonious  and  natural.  Some  men  leave  their  youth 
behind  them  as  they  grow  older :  the  maturity  of  their 
ripened  powers  is  attained  at  the  expense  of  their  earlier 
qualities.  In  his  case  the  exuberance  and  enthusiasm  of 
the  boy  was  carried  on  into  the  serious,  earnest  life  of 


17 

the  man.  One  of  the  secrets  of  Dr.  Halley's  power,  and 
one  of  the  chief  reasons  of  his  attractiveness  to  people  of 
all  sorts,  was  his  youthfulness  of  feeling — as  shown  in  his 
love  of  sports  and  games,  his  love  of  nature,  his  fondness 
for  innocent  and  wholesome  fun  of  every  kind.  No  one 
could  resist  the  contagion  of  his  hearty,  joyous  laughter. 
The  union  of  so  much  spontaneity  with  so  much  dignity 
and  seriousness  was  admirable. 

"  I  would  the  great  world  grew  like  thee. 
Who  grewest  not  alone  in  power 
And  knowledge,  but  by  year  and  hour 
In  reverence  and  in  charity." 

It  was  a  happy  choice  which  Eben  Halley  made  when  he 
entered  the  ministry.  Few  men  possess  so  many  of  the 
gifts  requisite  for  success  in  it.  No  one  who  told  him  of 
a  sorrow,  or  burden,  or  anxiety,  could  fail  to  see,  in  the 
expression  of  his  countenance,  and  the  tones  of  his  voice, 
as  well  as  in  his  words,  how  tender  a  feeling  he  had  for 
those  in  trouble.  He  had  an  intense  sense  of  the  ethical 
element  in  life  :  I  remember  how  indignant  it  used  to 
make  him  to  hear  people  speak  of  "  mere  morality  " — he 
could  not  endure  even  the  appearance  of  a  separation  be- 
tween the  evangelical  motives  of  Christianity  and  practical 
righteousness.  Every  part  of  his  work  as  a  Christian  min- 
ister was  a  pleasure  to  him.  I  used  to  wonder  at  his  readi- 
ness, and  even  eagerness,  to  get  back  from  his  vacations  ; 
after  the  needed  recreation  had  been  obtained,  his  home 
and  his  pulpit  were  more  attractive  to  him  than  vacation 
pleasures.  All  his  friends  know  how  magnanimous  and 
generous  he  was  in  his  judgments  of  men,  how  he  re- 


joiced  in  the  successes  of  others,  how  wholly  free  he  was 
from  pettiness  and  jealousy  and  censoriousness.  From 
the  beginning  of  his  settlement  in  Troy,  his  heart  was 
given  to  his  people  ;  many  times  he  expressed  to  me  his 
grateful  sense  of  the  kindness  shown  him.  The  last 
letter  I  ever  had  from  him,  written  just  before  his  return 
from  the  South,  last  spring,  closed  with  the  words,  "  Oh, 
what  a  people  ;  what  a  people  !  " 

And  now  this  one  so  rarely  fitted  for  usefulness  has 
been  called  away  from  his  work,  his  family,  and  the 
multitude  of  his  friends,  just  as  he  was  entering  upon  the 
most  productive  period  of  his  career.  What  comfort  does 
so  sorrowful  a  mystery  admit  except  that  derived  from 
Christian  faith  and  hope  ? 

"  What  is  death 
To  him  who  meets  it  with  an  upright  heart  ? 
Perhaps  a  passage  overhung  with  clouds 
But  at  its  entrance  ;  a  few  leagues  beyond 
Opening  to  kinder  skies,  and  milder  suns, 
And  seas  pacific  as  the  soul  that  seeks  them." 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  GEORGE  T.  BERRY. 

On  behalf  of  the  members  of  the  Second  Street  Church, 
I  have  been  requested,  in  a  closing  word,  to  express  to 
the  Presbytery  the  church's  appreciation  of  their  loving 
act  in  uniting  with  us  to-night  in  this  sweet  memorial 
service.  You  have  done,  dear  brethren  of  the  Presby- 
tery, an  honor  to  him  whose  memory  we  cherish  with  a 
deep  and  sacred  love.  Out  of  full  hearts  and  with  sincere 
words  we  thank  you. 

But  while  I  desire  that  this  simple  expression  of  grati- 
tude, on  behalf  of  the  church,  shall  include  also  my  own 
sense  of  appreciation,  I  cannot  allow  this  opportunity  to 
pass  without  adding  a  single  word  of  personal  tribute  to 
that  life  whose  memory  rests  like  a  benediction  upon  us 
all  at  this  hour. 

My  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Halley  was  an  exceedingly 
brief  one — ah  !  all  too  brief  it  was — but  during  the  few 
months  that  it  was  my  privilege  to  know  him  and  to  feel 
the  warmth  of  his  friendship,  during  those  few  sacred 
hours  in  which  we  talked  together  of  life's  realities,  he 
stamped  upon  my  heart  the  eternal  impress  of  his  soul. 
With  most  of  you  it  was  my  privilege  to  hear  him  speak 
during  those  days  of  deep  reflection  in  which  he  set  his 
•*  forward  countenance "  and  bravely  peered  into  the 
great  beyond,  but  in  one  of  those  treasured  hours  when 
we  were  alone  together  he  let  me  into  the  inner  sanctu- 
ary of  his  soul,  and  I  wish  to  bear  this  testimony  to-night 

19 


20 

to  the  blessedness  of  his  memory  :  That  at  no  moment, 
and  in  no  experience  of  my  life,  have  I  ever  caught  the 
meaning  of  the  reality  of  the  hidden  life  as  at  that  mo- 
ment, when,  like  a  flash  of  heavenly  light,  it  irradiated 
my  soul !  I  cannot  think  of  the  soul,  I  cannot  call  the 
word  to  my  lips,  without  the  recollection  of  that  hour. 
And  this  is  my  daily  grief,  that  just  when  the  richness  of 
his  nature  had  created  the  desire  of  mind  and  heart  for 
yet  fuller  and  more  intense  revelations  of  soul-life  he  was 
parted  from  me. 

Dr.  Halley  was  a  great  man  in  manifold  ways.  In  his 
literary  insight  and  knowledge,  at  which  I  never  ceased 
to  wonder,  in  his  knowledge  of  men  and  penetration  into 
character,  in  his  great  heart,  whose  sympathy  and  gene- 
rosity I  had  special  opportunity  to  feel,  but  he  was  great 
in  these  ways,  aye,  grand  in  more  ways  than  these,  be- 
cause of  his  spiritual  intensity.  Perhaps  I  can  pay  him 
no  higher  tribute  than  when  I  say  that  his  name  always 
recurs  to  my  mind  when  I  think  of  Robertson  of  Brighton, 
of  Frederick  Denison  Maurice,  and  of  Phillips  Brooks!  I 
have  no  higher  hope  than  that  in  my  own  life  and  in  my 
ministry  a  double  portion  of  his  spirit  may  rest  upon  me  ! 

I  would,  in  bringing  these  brief  remembrances  to  a 
close,  apply  to  him  another's  beautiful  and  most  appro- 
priate memorial  words,  which  you  may  recall :  "  Dear 
friend,  farewell!  Thy  going  has  made  heaven  near.  Full 
many  a  vase  of  comely  phrase  I  keep  among  my  treas- 
ures as  witness  to  the  cunning  of  thy  hand.  Thy  loving 
words  shall  live  in  memory's  garden  like  sweet  forget- 
me-nots  ;  and  I  will  hold  the  broken  thread  of  our  high 
discourse  until  we  meet  again." 


Xettere,  IReeolutions,  ant)  tributes. 

MEMORIAL. 

Adopted  at  a  joint  meeting  of  the  Session  and  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Second  Street  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  June  17,  1895  : 

The  death  of  Eben  Halley  has  brought  unspeakable 
sorrow  to  this  church.  In  the  shadow  of  such  a  loss, 
grief  is  all  but  voiceless.  For  as  there  are  living  burdens 
which  can  only  be  endured  in  silence,  so  are  there  labors 
of  the  soul  during  which  man  is  dumb  in  the  presence  of 
his  fellows,  and  to  God  and  the  great  unknown  alone  can 
tell  his  grief.  It  is  easy,  when  the  dead  have  spoken  to 
us  only  from  a  distance,  to  praise  the  benevolent,  to  laud 
the  hero,  to  respect  the  learned,  to  admire  the  great,  to 
point  out  all  those  virtues  which  challenge  the  respect 
and  veneration  of  mankind.  But  when  the  great,  warm 
heart  has  beat  against  our  own,  when  there  has  been 
daily  fellowship  of  hand  and  voice  and  eye,  and  the  over- 
flowing spirit  of  deep,  unfaltering  love,  of  unaffected 
truth,  of  Christlike  grace  and  purity  have  made  us  know 
that  he  who  is  gone  was  ours  and  we  were  his — in  the 
first  flush  of  grief  words  seem  too  cold  to  measure  how 
good  and  great  he  was,  to  tell  how  much  we  loved  him. 
And  if,  indeed,  there  be  a  silence  more  eloquent  than 
speech,  it  is  exemplified  when  we  record  this  simple 
truth,  that  his  goodness  and  greatness  appeal  to  us  be- 


22 

yond  expression  in  this  hour,  when  of  all  times  we  are 
moved  to  make  public  testimony  of  it. 

Some  men  have  been  termed  nature's  noblemen.  This 
man  was  more  than  that.  He  was  God's  nobleman — 
God  who  came  before  nature  and  who  created  it.  There 
was  a  largeness  in  all  his  virtues  which  marked  him  as 
among  those  who  have  found  the  source  of  life,  and 
whose  spirits  never  falter  in  their  uprising  towards  the 
highest  truth,  the  highest  good,  the  highest  love.  With 
a  soul  so  open,  a  heart  so  warm  and  tender,  and  yet  so 
brave — so  brave  ;  a  purpose  so  steadfast,  a  courage  so 
high,  a  sympathy  so  boundless,  a  sense  of  honor  so  deli- 
cate, and  of  justice  so  exact  ;  a  love  of  right  and  a  hatred 
of  wrong  so  constant  and  outspoken — his  abundant  gifts 
of  mind,  and  the  graces  of  which  he  was  all  unconscious, 
made  him  a  power  among  men,  a  power  in  the  Church,  a 
power  in  the  community  which  mourns  his  death.  There 
is  no  home  whose  threshold  he  had  ever  crossed  which 
does  not  weep  for  him  to-day. 

His  ministry  in  this  church  was  of  God.  For  he  not 
only  preached  God  and  the  Master,  but  he  lived  them. 
It  was  the  spirit  of  truth  which  moved  him  ;  it  was  the 
truth  which  made  him  strong ;  it  was  that  which  gave 
him,  as  we  believe,  a  unique  place  in  this  community  — 
the  figure  of  a  brave,  simple,  Christian  gentleman  ;  full 
of  the  sweetest  charity,  upholding  everything  which 
made  for  good,  resisting  everything  which  was  founded 
on  evil. 

God  has  taken  him — our  beloved  friend.  We  bow  to 
this  mystery,  which  he  accepted  so  readily  even  while  he 
yearned  to  live  and  labor  with  all  the  intensity  of  his 


21 

strong,  joyous  nature.  We  yield  to  it,  and  we  find  there 
a  new  and  wonderful  assurance  that  his  abiding  faith  was 
not  misplaced.  "  For  such  coffins,"  said  Victor  Hugo, 
bending  over  the  tomb  of  a  fellow  genius,  "  proclaim 
immortality."  And  we  say  to  ourselves  here  to-day,  it 
is  impossible  that  so  great  a  spirit  in  this  life  can  be 
other  than  a  great  spirit  after  death. 

Charles  R.  Ingalls, 
Seymour  Van  Santvoord, 

Committee. 

FROM   THE   WALNUT   HILLS    CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH. 

Cincinnati,  O.,  June  9,  1895. 

From  the  pulpit  this  morning  was  announced  the  death 
of  the  Rev.  Eben  Halley,  of  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  Halley  served  this  church  as  its  pastor  when  it 
was  known  as  the  Seventh  Street  Congregational  Church. 
He  entered  upon  this  service  in  December,  1869,  and 
resigned  in  April,   1878. 

He  was  a  man  of  fine  presence :  In  mind  and  spirit 
eminently  equipped  for  his  profession :  In  the  pulpit 
effective  in  discourse  :  In  the  homes  of  his  people,  through 
his  winning  manner,  sympathetic  and  affectionate  nature, 
his  life  became  inseparably  mingled  with  many  of  their 
experiences,  both  of  joy  and  sorrow,  that  will  always  be 
of  grateful  memory.  "  He  lives  long  who  lives  well," 
he  once  said.  How  appropriately  may  this  aphorism  be 
applied  to  him,  cut  off  as  he  is  in  the  noontide  of  his 
life  work. 

We  share  in  the  grief  thus  brought  to  his  bereaved  wife 


24 

and  fatherless  sons,  and  commend  them  to  Him  who  has 
balm  for  every  wound,  and  can  heal  all  sorrow. 

On  behalf  of  the  Walnut  Hills  Congregational  Church. 
Lewis  G.  Hopkins,  \ 
Joseph  C.  Noyes,     >•  Committee. 
G.  Monteith.  ) 


from  the  congregational  church,    binghamton, 

NEW   YORK. 

The  sad  news  has  come  to  this  church  that  a  former 
pastor,  tenderly  beloved,  has  fallen  asleep. 

The  Rev.  Eben  Halley,  D.D.,  ministered  to  this  people 
for  nine  years,  from  1878  until  1886,  giving  his  best  for 
those  whom  he  loved  and  among  whom  he  labored. 

He  was  not  only  an  earnest  working  member  and 
leader  of  our  church,  but  was  also  an  aggressive  Chris- 
tian citizen  who  was  respected  and  loved  by  the  whole 
city,  and  was  identified  with  all  that  made  for  righteous- 
ness in  the  affairs  of  our  community.  When  he  removed 
to  Troy,  he  carried  with  him  the  hearts  of  all  his  congre- 
gation. 

His  ministry  to  this  church  formed  such  an  important 
period  in  its  history,  and  so  many  of  our  present  mem- 
bers knew  and  loved  Dr.  Halley  as  their  friend  and 
pastor,  that  we  deem  it  fitting  to  make  this  expression 
and  to  pass  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  That  we  record  our  great  sense  of  loss  in  the 
death  of  Dr.  Halley  ;  and  our  deep  gratitude  that  we 
were  permitted  to  know  him  for  many  years  and  to  sit 
under  his  teaching. 


25 

He  was  a  tender  mourner  together  with  us  when  we 
were  in  any  way  afflicted,  and  in  all  things  was  a  faithful 
servant  of  the  Lord  in  leading  this  people. 

Resolved,  That  we  extend  to  his  bereaved  wife  and 
children  our  heartfelt  sympathy,  and  commend  them  to 
the  comfort  of  Him  whom  he  loved  and  served  with  all 
his  heart. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  the  sister  church,  whom 
Dr.  Halley  has  served  since  his  removal  from  us,  our  con- 
dolence in  their  loss,  knowing  as  we  do  how  great  that 
loss  is. 

Resolved,  That  this  expression  be  recorded  upon  the 
minutes  of  this  church,  and  that  the  Board  of  Deacons 
be  charged  with  the  duty  of  conveying  a  copy  of  these 
resolutions  to  the  family  of  our  departed  brother,  and  to 
the  Second  Street  Presbyterian  Church  of  Troy. 

WiLLARD  B.  Thorp, 

Pastor. 

June  9,  1895. 

MINUTE   FROM   THE   TROY    METHODIST   PREACHERS' 
ASSOCIATION. 

Since  this  city  has  lost  one  of  its  public-spirited,  faith- 
ful, and  patriotic  citizens,  the  Christian  pulpit  one  of  its 
brightest  lights,  and  a  prominent  church  a  devoted  and 
beloved  pastor,  therefore  we  record  upon  our  minutes  the 
following  statements : 

First,  That  we  recognize  in  the  late  Rev.  Eben  Halley, 
D.D.,  a  man  of  large  intellectual  ability  and  culture,  high 
type   of  manhood,  unexceptionable  Christian  character, 


26 

large  sympathies,  an  able  preacher  and  faithful  pastor, 
unbounded  brotherly  love  and  intense  interest  in  all  that 
tends  to  elevate  humanity. 

Second,  That  we  tender  the  bereaved  family,  as  well 
as  the  sorrowing  congregation,  our  warmest  sympathy. 
I.  D.  Van  Valkenburgh, 
D.  W.  Gates, 

Committee. 

June  II,  1895. 

FROM   THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

The  Pastor,  Elders,  and  Members  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Troy,  to  the  Elders  and  Members  of  the  Second 
Street  Presbytej'ian  Church  of  Troy,  Greeting : 

Dearly  Beloved : 

The  recent  sad  affliction  which  hath  fallen  upon  you 
by  reason  of  the  death  of  your  pastor,  a  man  honored  of 
God  and  esteemed  by  men,  moves  us  to  express  our  deep 
sympathy  for  you  in  this  great  bereavement.  As  near 
neighbors  and  friends,  we  mourn  and  weep  with  you,  and 
our  hearts  are  broken  for  you.  Your  house  is  left  unto 
you  desolate,  and  all  the  pain  and  grief  of  separation  are 
upon  you.  Into  this  sorrow  we  enter,  for  your  pastor 
was  very  dear  to  us. 

In  his  occasional  ministrations  to  us,  we  felt  the  magic 
thrill  of  his  sympathy,  the  high  uplift  of  his  spiritual 
might,  the  broad  toleration  of  his  Christian  love,  the  ten- 
derness of  his  rebuke,  the  ringing  force  of  his  exhorta- 
tion, the  full  touch  of  his  inspired  utterance,  and  the  deep 
devotion  of  his  soul  to  the  Master  in  whom  his  whole  life 


2/ 

was  centred.  We  thank  God  for  such  a  ministry  and  for 
such  a  brother.     His  memory  will  be  forever  sweet. 

We  also  had  an  especial  pride  in  him  as  a  noble  de- 
fender of  the  truth  in  the  religious  and  civic  contests  of 
the  day.  The  instincts  of  righteousness  placed  him  ever 
on  the  side  of  liberty,  justice,  and  the  truth  that  makes 
men  free.  He  abhorred  all  tyranny,  and  set  at  naught 
the  narrow  traditions  of  the  past,  that  he  might  make  the 
word  of  God  alive  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men. 
His  voice  was  that  of  a  prophet  of  the  Living  God.  For 
himself  he  cared  nothing;  for  the  right  he  was  ready  to 
make  any  sacrifice.  Through  good  report  and  evil  report 
he  kept  on  his  way  as  steady  to  the  goal  as  the  ship  that, 
alike  in  storm  and  favoring  gale,  makes  ever  for  the  des- 
tined port.  We  thank  God  again  for  this  public  mani- 
festation of  righteous  activity  in  His  servant,  and  in  yours 
and  ours. 

But  we  loved  him  apart  from  his  public  life.  More  to 
us  than  the  minister  was  the  man.  In  the  common  inter- 
course of  daily  life,  his  official  position  was  forgotten  in 
the  noble,  generous,  loyal,  self-denying  friend.  He  en- 
tered our  homes,  shared  our  hospitality,  and  broke  bread 
with  us  in  the  sweet  communion  of  friendship ;  he  re- 
joiced in  all  our  successes,  and  never  a  cloud  of  jealousy 
floated  before  his  face.  He  was  always  glad  for  our 
gladness.  Charming  in  conversation,  pure  in  thought, 
and  noble  in  all  his  aspirations,  he  always  lifted  us  to  the 
level  of  his  own  life,  and  made  us  feel  that  we  were  in 
high  company.  When  the  darkness  of  the  shadow  was 
over  us,  and  we  hid  our  faces  in  the  agony  of  grief,  he 
came  bringing  with  him  light,  hope,  and  the  tender  voice 


28 

of  comfort.  His  presence  was  a  balm  for  wounded  hearts, 
and  his  words  gave  strength  to  endure  where  consolation 
failed. 

Dearly  beloved,  we  know  that  we  cannot  measure  your 
loss  by  our  own,  but  the  knowledge  of  our  esteem  and 
love  may  show  you  something  of  our  sympathy,  and  the 
share  we  take  in  your  sorrow.  Our  prayer  for  you  is  with 
broken  voice,  but  with  whole  heart.  We  beseech  our 
Father  that  He  will  graciously  comfort  you  with  the 
comfort  wherewith  He  comforteth  them  that  are  in  afflic- 
tion, and  that  in  the  distress  and  pain  which  now  fills 
your  souls,  you  may  find  the  Eternal  Refuge,  and  the  sup- 
port of  Everlasting  Arms.  And  may  He  who  is  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church  be  especially  near  to  you  in  these 
days,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance  which 
His  servant  and  under-shepherd  spoke  to  you  in  His 
name.  Your  pastor  has  entered  upon  his  reward  and 
taken  possession  of  the  illimitable  glory  which  Jesus  gives 
to  those  who  are  with  Him  where  He  is.  May  it  be 
yours  to  reap  in  joy  that  which  he  has  sown. 

Wishing  you  grace,  mercy,  and  peace  from  God  our 
Father,  and  Jesus  Christ  His  Son,  we  remain  ever  yours 
in  the  bonds  of  Christian  love. 

In  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  its  Elders,  and  Members, 

Theophilus  Parsons  Sawin. 

June  14,  1895. 

FROM   ST.    STEPHEN'S   GUILD. 

The  members  of  St.  Stephen's  Guild  of  the  Parish  of 
the   Holy   Cross,  Troy,  N.  Y.,  have  with  deep  sadness 


29 

received  the  intelligence  of  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Eben 
Halley,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Second  Street  Presbyterian 
Church  of  this  city.  Together  with  other  pleasant 
memories  of  him,  they  recall  with  particular  pleasure  and 
gratitude  the  kind  interest  which  he  manifested  in  the 
very  interesting  and  valuable  address  which  he  gave 
before  them.  The  departure  of  a  man  so  favored  in  in- 
tellectual gifts,  so  gentle  in  spirit,  so  brave  in  his  convic- 
tions, so  wise  in  his  sympathies,  so  studious  in  various 
fields,  so  faithful  in  every  relation,  and  universally  re- 
spected and  reverenced,  is  a  loss  which  is  profoundly 
realized  far  beyond  the  favored  circle  in  which  he  was 
the  devoted  and  beloved  pastor. 

As  a  humble  expression  of  our  appreciation  and  sym- 
pathy, we  very  respectfully  present  to  the  family  of  our 
departed  friend  a  copy  of  the  above  memorial  minute, 
which  we  place  upon  our  records. 

Eaton  W.  Maxcy, 
J.  Ireland  Tucker, 
For  the  Committee. 

■June  20,  1895. 

THE   FAIRVIEW   HOME. 

West  Troy,  N.  Y.,  July  i,  1895. 

At  the  regular  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  "  Fairview  Home  for  Friendless  Children," 
held  June  27,  1895,  the  following  memorial  was  spread 
on  the  minutes,  and  directed  to  be  sent  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased. 

The  death  of  Rev.  Eben  Halley,  D.D.,  which  has 
brought  sorrow  to  so  many  hearts,  has  deprived  Fairview 


30 

Home  of  a  steadfast  friend,  and  this  Board  of  one  of  its 
oldest  and  most  useful  members.  Dr.  Halley's  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  needs  of  the  Home,  joined  to  his 
strong,  practical  sense,  made  his  counsel  of  great  value, 
the  more  so  that  he  was  always  ready  to  supplement  it 
by  active  effort.  By  private  as  well  as  by  public  appeal, 
has  he  brought  material  aid  to  the  Home,  while  also 
giving  time  and  thought  to  its  management.  The  death 
of  Dr.  Halley  brings  to  the  members  of  this  Board,  indi- 
vidually, a  sense  of  personal  loss.  His  warm  greeting 
will  be  missed  by  them  no  less  than  his  hearty  co-opera- 
tion in  their  work.  The  children  at  the  Home,  too,  will 
remember  with  pleasure  his  kindly  presence,  and  for  his 
work  and  loving  thought  for  "  these  little  ones  ...  he 
shall  in  nowise  lose  his  reward." 

Sincerely  yours, 

F.  B.  DURANT, 

Secretary. 
Mrs.  Eben  Halley, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 


FROM   THE  "  SPRINGFIELD   REPUBLICAN,"  JUNE  12,  1895. 

In  the  death  of  Rev.  Dr.  Eben  Halley,  pastor  of  the 
Second  Street  Presbyterian  Church  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  the 
cause  of  good  government  and  of  humanity  in  that  city 
loses  a  powerful  advocate,  and  the  religious  denomination 
to  which  he  belonged  is  robbed  of  a  strong  personality 
always  ranged  on  the  side  of  manliness,  of  freedom,  and 
the  progress  that  goes  with  freedom.  The  personal  loss 
that  is  felt  by  all  who  knew  this  attractive  man  made 


31 

yesterday  a  sad  Sunday  in  the  city  of  his  latest  and  best 
work,  and  wherever  the  news  of  his  death  reached  those 
who  loved  him. 

Dr.  Halley  was  only  just  past  fifty  years  of  age,  big  of 
person,  warm  of  heart,  and  anxious  to  devote  his  ripened 
powers  to  the  service  of  his  fellows.  He  was  quick  to 
feel  and  quicker  to  help,  the  friend  of  all  his  kind,  but 
especially  of  those  weighted  in  the  race  of  life.  When  the 
murder  of  Ross  came  to  awaken  the  best  citizenship  of 
Troy  to  a  keener  sense  of  its  responsibilities,  Dr.  Halley 
threw  himself  with  all  the  force  of  an  intense  nature  into 
the  fight  for  public  honor  and  the  well-being  of  the  peo- 
ple. What  previous  neglect  had  done  to  oppress  the 
people  and  create  abuses  that  were  intolerable  in  a 
civilized  community,  was  no  new  chapter  to  him.  He 
had  lived  close  to  the  toilers  and  knew  it  all,  and  was  no 
cloistered  theologian  just  awakened  to  his  duty.  But 
others  had  come  to  see  the  situation  in  all  its  hideous  de- 
formity. How  his  very  soul  blazed  out  in  impetuous  and 
righteously  wrathful  utterance,  with  an  eloquence  never 
to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  heard  his  words  or  read  of 
that  mighty  mass-meeting  of  citizens,  our  readers  will 
recall,  for  the  Republican  printed  his  speech.  He  could 
not  spare  himself  in  such  a  cause,  albeit  he  was  con- 
sciously overdrawing  the  vital  forces  that  had  been  too 
far  weakened  in  his  regular  work. 

There  came  a  serious  breakdown.  The  members  of 
the  church  that  he  had  broadened  and  strengthened  and 
almost  compelled  to  share  in  a  community  life  outside  of 
the  old  social  lines,  bound  to  him  by  ties  of  the  tenderest 
nature,  came  to  his  help  with  worthy  generosity.     They 


32 

gave  him  a  thousand  dollars,  voted  to  continue  his  salary, 
and  told  him  to  lean  on  them  and  go  and  get  well.  Then 
came  the  search  for  health.  The  strong  man  broken 
sought  the  woods  last  summer,  and  then  spent  the  winter 
in  the  Adirondacks  ;  health  seemed  to  be  coming  back, 
and  the  outlook  was  bright  for  richer  years  of  work  ahead 
— and  now  has  come  the  sudden  summons,  the  sorrow  of 
those  left  behind,  and  above  all  the  sense  of  poverty 
that  oppresses  when  a  leader  among  men  is  no  more. 

Eben  Halley  was  graduated  at  Williams  College  in  1864, 
where  he  was  a  classmate  of  Rev.  Dr.  J.  L.  R.  Trask  of 
this  city,  of  President  Henry  M.  Booth  of  Auburn  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  of  the  late  President  Ingalls  of  Drury 
College,  and  of  Rev.  Dr.  R.  P.  H.  Vail  of  Stamford,  Conn. 
Halley  studied  theology  at  Princeton  Seminary.  Williams 
gave  him  his  degree  of  D.D.  While  never  letting  his 
people  lose  hold  upon  the  spiritual  side  of  life.  Dr.  Halley 
made  them  see  the  practical  responsibilities  that  go  with 
the  Christian  idea  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  his 
pulpit  views  broadened  with  his  growth.  The  narrow 
conscientiousness  of  the  heresy  hunter  gave  him  wonder 
and  pain,  and  he  longed  to  see  the  Church  into  which  he 
had  been  born  widen  her  borders  in  the  charity  of  Christ. 

Eben  Halley  was  as  sweet  and  true  and  human  as 
Phillips  Brooks.  He  had  a  quick  sense  of  humor,  was  a 
delightful  story-teller,  and  his  deep,  infectious  laugh  that 
shook  his  big  frame  was  mighty  pleasant  to  hear.  His 
fine  courtesy  of  manner  was  the  natural  garb  of  a  nature 
so  transparently  genuine  that  trust  and  love  went  out  to 
meet  him  without  reserve  or  fear,  and  he  had  the  sympa- 
thy to  welcome  and  the  strength  to  hold  them  ever  after. 


33 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  great  need  of  such  as  he, 
and  so  has  the  world  of  strugghng  humanity  in  all  its 
aspects. 

FROM   POST   GRISWOLD,    G.   A.   R. 

At  the  regular  Encampment  of  John  A.  Griswold  Post, 
No.  338,  Department  of  New  York,  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  held  Wednesday  evening,  October  23,  1895, 
the  following  Memorial  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

VVhei'cas,  our  beloved  Comrade  and  Chaplain,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Eben  Halley,  has  been  called  to  his  eternal  reward, 
we  would  hereby  most  cordially  and  tenderly  express  our 
reverence  for  his  faithfulness  and  our  admiration  for  his 
many  virtues. 

Commanding  in  integrity  as  he  was  in  stature,  he  has 
left  a  memory  fragrant  with  deeds  of  love  and  oft-repeated 
utterances  of  patriotic  devotion. 

To  his  beloved  wife  and  children,  and  to  all  his  mourn- 
ing friends,  we  extend  our  earnest  sympathies,  and  pray 
that  the  Great  Commander  may  supply  his  place  and  fit 
us  all  for  similar  devotion  and  final  peace. 
L.  M.  S.  Haynes,    I 
W.  W.  Rousseau,  )■  Committee. 
Geo.  H.  Ennis.      ) 


FROM    THE   MINUTES    OF   THE    PRESBYTERY   OF   TROY. 

September  24,  1895. 
Since  the  last  meeting  of  Presbytery  it  has  pleased  our 
Heavenly  Father  to  remove  from  us  by  death  our  dear 


34 

brother  and  co-presbyter,  the  Rev.  Eben  Halley,  D.D., 
minister  of  the  Second  Street  Presbyterian  church  of 
Troy.  Taken  away  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood  and 
in  the  maturity  of  his  powers,  we  are  left  to  mourn  one 
who  had  proved  himself  an  able  minister  of  the  truth,  a 
zealous  and  courageous  advocate  of  righteousness,  a  wise 
and  faithful  counsellor,  and  withal  a  gentle  and  tolerant 
spirit,  filled  with  the  hope  of  the  Gospel,  and  guided  by 
the  mind  of  the  Master. 

The  Presbytery  of  Troy  puts  on  record  this  brief  tribute 
to  his  memory,  and  accompanies  it  with  sincere  sympathy 
for  the  church  he  so  ably  and  worthily  served  for  eight 
years,  praying  that  it  may  be  comforted  and  strengthened 
by  the  continual  abiding  of  the  work  which  he  did  in  the 
Master's  name. 

To  the  dear  family,  the  wife  and  children  who  are  left, 
the  Presbytery  also  expresses  its  sense  of  sorrow  in  their 
bereavement,  and  earnestly  beseeches  the  God  of  all  com- 
fort that  He  would  be  with  them  in  their  distress  and 
show  them  the  full  sweetness  of  His  unchanging  love. 

And  to  the  end  that  a  more  complete  manifestation  of 
our  deep  regard  for  the  memory  of  our  brother  may  be 
made,  the  Presbytery  orders  that  a  time  for  a  memorial 
service  be  set  apart,  the  time  and  place  and  program 
thereof  to  be  determined  by  a  committee  chosen  for 
the  purpose,  to  act  in  conjunction  with  a  committee 
from  the  Second  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  provided 
such  a  service  shall  be  acceptable  to  that  church. 


35 

TO   EBEN   HALLEY. 

Brave  prophet  of  the  Ever-living  Word, 

To  whom  was  given  the  vision  clear,  of  Right, 
And  Truth,  and  Liberty,  and  speech  of  might, 

Wherewith  to  show  to  men  thine  own  accord 

With  all  the  Spirit  of  thy  loving  Lord — 

Thy  voice  is  silent  now  ;  and  from  our  sight 
Thou  art  withdrawn  into  the  cloudless  light. 

Where  joys  complete  to  thee  the  heavens  afford. 

Thou  wast  a  man  in  whom  all  manliness 

Of  strength  was  matched  with  gentleness  and  grace  ; 

Thy  thoughts  were  living  breaths  of  sacred  fire  ; 
Thy  words  were  martial  notes  to  make  men  face 
The  call  of  Duty  stern,  and  reinspire 
Their  fainting  hearts  with  Truth  and  Righteousness. 

T.  P.  S. 

June  10,  1895. 


